By Providing Healing Services for Survivors of Torture

Professional Language Services

Our Multi-National Family

About Us

Our mission is to ensure equal access to healthcare, mental health, and social services for all, regardless of national origin or language ability, through the advocacy, education, and direct multilingual services that we provide.

Bilingual International Assistant Services is a not-for-profit 501 (C) (3) organization established in May, 2002 by stateless refugee women. Bilingual International was founded as a response to the unmet needs of foreign-born seniors who had limited ability in the English language, were unable to navigate the intricate system of care, and often voiced fear over their future and livelihood.

In 2005, the agency began serving US-born older adults, who, despite knowledge of English, lacked knowledge of the system of care and resources. Poverty stricken, isolated seniors who were also home bound and frail sought our services to help them improve their living situations, overcome anxieties, and increase their ability to maintain community living.

In 2016, Bilingual International welcomed two long-time partner agencies: the Center for Survivors of Torture and War Trauma and the Places for People Faith Team. These recent additions have enhanced the agency’s service portfolio – especially to refugees and survivors of state-sanctioned torture.

Free of negative bias, we advocate for and encourage legislation that promotes statewide accessible, appropriate health and social services for under-served individuals and populations. Through our services and proven track record, we not only live our mission – we go beyond expectations to help our elderly and foreign-born communities.

Do your holiday shopping and help others at the same time! Bilingual International Assistant Services will receive a percentage of the proceeds at Plowsharing Crafts this day. Money will go to helping refugees in St. Louis who are survivors of torture. December 14, 2016 (Wednesday) 10:00 am ~ 6:00 pm Light refreshments between 4 […]

Ten years ago, the Faith Team was established at Community Alternatives to help refugees in St. Louis who were survivors of torture address mental health issues and coordinate all aspects of their care, including immigration and citizenship issues. Over the years, thousands of clients who were originally from countries such as Bosnia, Afghanistan, Somalia and […]

Do your holiday shopping and help others at the same time! Bilingual International Assistant Services will receive a percentage of the proceeds at Plowsharing Crafts this day. Money will go to helping refugees in St. Louis who are survivors of torture. December 14, 2016 (Wednesday) 10:00 am ~ 6:00 pm Light refreshments between 4 […]

Save the Date: December 25th, 2016! We ask you to contribute your time, money or effort to make this holiday possible for 100 seniors who are home bound, shut in and / or live below the poverty standard.

To date we have provided 153 ACA counseling sessions in the following languages: Bosnian, Chinese, Dari, English, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, and Vietnamese. Today, we celebrate having enrolled 138 new recipient families into the Affordable Healthcare insurance coverage and reaching over Five Thousand (5086) people through 59 Outreach events!! Our services are available on Tuesday night […]